It's Mine!
by SRHtheHedgehog
Summary: Shinji and Hikari both leave a pokemon at the daycare center. What happens when an egg appears? Ikarishipping
1. Chapter 1

"What do you _mean_ it's your egg?"

"What do you mean it's _your_ egg?"

"Now now, I'm sure that we can work this out…"

I suppose this will take some explaining. It was a few years after Satoshi finally came to the stunning realization that I wasn't his rival and would never measure up to me. He decided that we should "go our separate ways." Sadly, he's still under the strange delusion that I, along with him, consider us to be equals. In any case, I hadn't seen any of them in three years or so, much to my relief. I happened to find a daycare facility near one of my normal training spots, recently, and decided that maybe they could do something with my stupid Magmar that I had been planning on releasing.

"Can I help you?" the cranky old bat barked at me as I walked in. How did she get a job as the daycare lady?

"I don't know, can you? I've got this Magmar that I was hoping you could do something about."

"Oh, it'll be alright! Just leave it here with us for a little while and I'm sure it will be up to your expectations!" Gosh I hate it when cranky old people fake enthusiasm to get you to pay them money.

"Whatever." I dropped the Pokeball on the counter and strolled out of the daycare. Nothing of notable value happened in the few days I was gone.

When I returned to retrieve the worthless thing, I saw someone I had hoped I would never have to lay eyes on again in my entire life.

"…Shinji?"

"Hey…you're that stupid girl." She flared up. Nope, she definitely hadn't changed in the least.

"HOW DARE YOU?! AFTER ALL THESE YEARS YOU STILL HAVEN'T LEARNED MY NAME!"

"It's not like I've been forced to socialize with you all this time. Now get out of my way, troublesome."

She stared daggers into my back as I pushed past her to the counter. "I'm here to pick up my Magmar."

"Oh! Yes, let me just go get it for you." She turned away and scurried out into the back garden. After a few moments, she returned with a Pokeball. I went to grab it, but she drew it away from me. "Sorry, you don't get your pokemon back until you pay." She stuck her hand out stubbornly.

"Wrong. You don't get your money until I see what you've done with that worthless excuse of a Magmar." I snatched it from her hand and released it from its small place of residence. I had to admit, it did look as if it had gained at least a little power in its time there. I decided it was probably worth paying the old bat, so I dropped the money she charged me loudly onto the counter.

"My turn!" The stupid girl shoved me off to the side as she requested to see her pokemon. I think it was an Ambipom or something. I returned Magmar to its Pokeball and turned to leave.

"Wait! Sir, I forgot to mention. While you were out, an egg was found…"

"Ah. So then Magmar laid an egg, did it?"

"Well…that's the problem. We're not quite sure."

I stared at the woman in front of me who was standing there wasting my time. "How can you not know what pokemon it came from? Wouldn't it be protecting it?"

"You see…this girl's Ambipom was protecting it as well as your Magmar. They're both female, so I'm not really sure…"

"So who gets the egg?" That girl has a serious problem with interrupting people.

"It's for the two of you to decide." She placed the egg on the counter and went back outside as if to avoid the explosion that was about to commence.

"The egg is mine," I said simply.

"Who died and let you decide?"

"Even if it is your pokemon's, you would waste it on contests. The egg is mine. You can have it if it turns out to be weak."

"But it would only be a baby! How would you know if it was weak?" She looked as if she was going to rip my face off at any moment. Normally I would have no fear from such a frail girl as her, but that breeder wasn't here to hold her back this time.

"Look, just let me take it until it hatches. We can decide then. Truce?"

She gained a thoughtful look. "I have an idea. Why don't you and I travel together until the egg hatches?"

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?"

"Because I can hardly stand being around you right now. How in the world would I survive the weeks it may take for the egg to hatch?"

"Don't be stupid!" Quite hard to accomplish that when I was never being stupid to begin with. "We could separate after it hatches and we decide who gets to keep it. I never said this was a permanent deal. Can you please at least try to pretend to stand me for a week or two?" She held out her small, pale hand, obviously wanting to shake. I hesitantly took it. Her hand was soft and cool, drastically contrasting to my dark, rough ones. She seemed to almost flinch at my touch. I myself almost felt a surge of warmth from her otherwise cold hand.

"Fine." I quickly jerked my hand away in disgust. I may hate to touch others, but I still shake hands whenever I make a deal. It's just common courtesy. Don't look at me like that; even I have some concept of manners. I wiped my hand on my pants, trying to shake off the strange, feverish warmth that seemed to be tingling up my arm. It felt so…_nice_ that it was really beginning to scare me. I stormed out of the daycare.

"Shinji? Where are you going?"

"Training. If you want to travel with me so badly, don't slow me down." I was fully willing (and intending) to leave her behind. Unfortunately, she started jogging after me.

"Wait! You're going too fast!" she panted. That would be the _point_.

She eventually caught up to me and clutched onto my arm, panting. I was a few good inches taller than her by that time, and so my stride was a lot wider. She must have really been running to try and keep up with me. I tried to shake her off, but she clung on as if she would fall through an abyss if she was to let go. Realizing I was really stuck with her for a while, a thought occurred.

"So, what happened to the idiot and the breeder?"

She glared at me before replying, "_Satoshi_ went on to the next region along with _Takeshi_. I decided to hang back in Sinnoh and keep training for the next Grand Festival here." It was quiet for a few moments. "…So…"

"What?"

"So…how old are you now?"

"…What kind of question is that?"

"I'm just trying to make small talk!" Her cheeks flushed slightly from embarrassment. I found this particularly amusing.

"I'm 15."

"Oh." She seemed surprised.

"What?"

"I don't know…I guess I just thought you were younger than that." What a compliment. She may as well have just called me immature.

"Well the fact is that I'm not," I snapped.

"You don't have to get mad about it," she grumbled. Her cheeks puffed slightly as she spoke.

"Hey…" I mumbled.

She glanced up at me nervously, cheeks still slightly pink. "What is it?"

"…Could you let me go? Troublesome girl."

"SHINJI!"

* * *

A/N: Yes, I've decided that Shinji's Magmar is a girl XD I really have no idea whether either one of those pokemon is female or not as it never specifies, but I was trying to think of something that Shinji found acceptable enough to keep, but not necessarily enough to use.


	2. Chapter 2

We wandered back out into the forest so that I could resume my training. The stupid girl agreed as she said that she'd rather take care of that stupid egg anyway. She sat down in the grass, cradling the egg.

"Alright. So you go ahead and train, then."

"I never asked for your permission," I grunted. I released Torterra and Magmar, deciding it would be best to see what the daycare had done with its move set and check if it was worth anything at this point.

"Torterra, use Earthquake!" The ground began to rumble underneath us. Magmar seemed to panic at the tremor. Pathetic.

"Why do I even bother with you?" I shouted.

"Shinji! That's no way to talk to your pokemon!" the girl said, seemingly shocked.

"What business is it of yours?" I yelled, turning to her. She stared back at me, silent. "What kind of pokemon can't even stand up to its own weakness? That daycare did nothing but make it softer than it already was!" I went back to my pathetic excuse of a Magmar. "I've got no more use for you. Get out of here." Magmar looked at me wistfully. Great. Now it had an attachment to me. "I told you to go!" It slowly started to walk away, glancing back at the girl. Why did she have to defend him?! Why wasn't he listening to me?! It's not like I showed any weakness when she protested!

"Shinji! You can't separate it from its egg! Well, the egg it's trying to protect, anyway…" Frustrated, I returned Magmar to its Pokeball.

"Look, if you won't let it be separate from its egg, then _you_ can take the stupid thing." I tossed the ball over to her carelessly. She caught it and glared up at me.

"I'll take care of it, but it's still your Magmar."

"Tsk." Stupid girl. She can't _make_ me do anything. I refuse to take that thing back. However, if I let her have the delusion that I will, she'll leave me alone about it.

I attempted to train many more pokemon, each time being shot down by her screeching.

"Look, are you going to let me train or not?"

"You can train, but you can't keep abusing your pokemon like this!" She carefully set the egg down and dashed over to me. She slammed her forehead against mine, apparently trying to be threatening. I had never noticed before, but her hair smelled like lavender.

"I can train my own pokemon as I please."

"This isn't training!" My heart skipped a beat for some reason, hearing her voice so close to me. I think the shrill sound of her voice was shattering my eardrums.

"Training for battles and training for frilly contests are two totally different things."

"The only difference is that you have to train for appearance, too!"

"Strength makes no difference in a contest. Stop pushing your nose into business that doesn't concern you." For a moment, I thought she was going to bite my nose off. "Let's just get moving already. I don't have time for this."

She made a noise that seemed suspiciously close to a growl, but she said nothing. She slowly put the egg into her bag and slung it over her shoulder. I returned my Torterra and Ursaring, put them in with my other pokemon, and started briskly walking. She noisily clunked along behind me, crashing into trees and stepping in bushes. Stupid, clumsy girl.

After what felt like only a few hours of walking, she started whining.

"Shinji, how long have we been out here?"

"I don't know. Probably a few hours."

"Don't you think we should stop and set up camp? The sun set forever ago, and it's hard to maneuver through the dark forest."

"Get over it."

"Don't you ever sleep?"

"Yes, but not as much as you, apparently."

"Shinji, my feet are killing me! And I'm hungry!"

I heavily sighed. I asked myself once again what I had gotten myself into. I abruptly stopped, causing her to crash into my back and almost knock me over. I have no idea how she pulled that one off; she was at least three feet behind me. I grumpily dropped my bag on the ground. There was enough area for two people to sleep just fine near the tiny pond we had come across. I yanked my sleeping bag out of my pack and rolled it out onto the ground.

"There. Camp: set up." She looked around as if she was searching for something.

"But…where's the tent?"

"Why do we need a tent?"

"So that I can change! You're not saying that I have to change and sleep here next to you, are you?!"

"I'm not saying anything. You can sleep wherever you want. I'd prefer if you changed somewhere else, though."

"ARGH!" She rolled out her sleeping bag and flopped down on top of it. "Do you at least have food?"

I pulled out some plain onigiri I had made earlier that day. "Here. You'll be fine with this until morning."

"Only two?!"

"Eat much more and you'll get fat." I munched into my onigiri as she practically exploded beside me. I sat down on top of my sleeping bag.

"Uh…um…" She began to fidget.

"What?"

"Do…do we have to sleep so close together, at least?" I looked down where she indicated. Our sleeping bags were touching, but they were jammed into the clearing.

"Would you rather sleep in a tree?" She nervously looked away. "If you don't like me that much, you can just leave the egg here and get lost."

"It-it's not that…" She continued to fidget annoyingly. "It's just going to be…weird sleeping this close to you. Because you're a boy, I mean." She avoided eye contact.

"I'm not going to reach up your skirt, so calm down."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

"Noisy girl." She angrily stuffed the last of her onigiri into her mouth and crawled into her sleeping bag. "I thought you needed to change?"

"Shut up." I smirked lightly. She obviously hated it when I teased her, so why did she make it so easy? I quickly finished my own dinner and slipped off my jacket. Even after these few years, I still wore the same worn out old thing. I had no particular attachment to it, but I found it especially functional and have never seen another like it. I slid down into my sleeping bag. She flinched slightly at the touch of my back on hers, but her breathing soon slowed and she relaxed. I fell asleep soon after she did.

* * *

"Mmmm…" A soft, familiar hand slid over my neck. I was barely regaining consciousness. I slowly opened one eye and saw only blue. With only half of my brain active, I thought I had fallen in the pond in my sleep. I quickly tried to escape, but found two arms wrapped firmly around my shoulders. As I calmed down and blinked some of the dust out of my eyes, I realized that the blue was not from water.

It was that stupid girl's hair.

I would have recognized that lavender stench anywhere.

I carefully pulled the slim arms off of my back and slowly tried to push her away.

"Nnphmm…" She mumbled something incoherently before tilting her head up slightly. Her morning breath stung my nose like 100 Glooms. I propped myself up on one arm and tried to unzip my sleeping bag. For some reason, my usually strong hand failed me and I slipped. I crashed back into my pillow even closer to her than I had been before. To my horrified disgust, she moved her head even closer to mine.

And then her lips touched my own.

I knew I had to get away from that as soon as possible. Either I was going to throw up on her or she was going to wake up and scratch my throat out, blaming me for the entire ordeal. However, I couldn't seem to bring myself to move. My brain kept telling my arms to push, but they wouldn't respond. The only thing that allowed me to regain control of myself was her movement away. With a small sigh against my lips, she rolled over, scattering grass and twigs everywhere. Finally, I was free.

I unzipped my sleeping bag as quickly as I could. I leapt out of it and sprinted into the surrounding trees. I stopped, panting with all my might. How was this possible? I had just woken up, sprinted through the woods and was out of breath, and I still had energy to burn. It was as if I had just gotten an adrenaline rush from what had just happened. I could honestly say that nothing had ever given me a rush in my entire life. I've never been a very excitable person.

But why would I get a rush from something like _that_? That was by far the most revolting thing I had ever felt in my entire life. For some unknown reason, I couldn't seem to get cold enough. I took off my shirt in the crisp, cool spring air, but it wasn't enough. Why? My Pokedex said it was only 5:00 a.m. It wasn't even late enough into spring to be remotely warm this early. I angrily (and stupidly) punched a nearby tree, causing my knuckles to throb. The pain was at least distracting me from my other physical problems, so I decided it would be best not to worry about it.

Hey, maybe if I was lucky, I would get lost in the woods and never be found again. At least then I wouldn't have to deal with that pathetic girl.


	3. Chapter 3

I somehow made it back to the clearing (even after actually trying to get lost). That stupid girl was still sleeping. She had had a good eight hours of sleep already; why was she wasting our time like this?

My heart was still pounding from my run, so I decided to sit and breathe for a while. I rested my bare back against a cold, smooth tree and closed my eyes. I quickly opened them, however, as the only thing I could see was her closed eyes as she violated my personal space in my memories. I started trying to concentrate on something else. _Anything_ else.

I thought about the Magmar I had been training the day before. Why did that stupid girl have to interrupt? Why does she always do the stupid things she does? Why did she have to kiss me like that in her sleep?

Okay, this is obviously getting me nowhere.

I decided to try and dunk my head in the cold pond water. I didn't even stop to consider what might be in the water; all I knew was that it was cold and would hopefully wake me up from this nightmare. I scooted over to it and started by splashing some of the water on my face. It didn't seem as if it was helping much. I took a deep breath and completely submerged my head for a few moments. Yes, this was helping. The strange heat flash I was having was finally subsiding.

I pulled my head back out and wrung out my hair. I scraped some strange, algae-looking plant out of it and wiped my face off. I could feel my sanity coming back. I was already wondering what had possessed me to want to dunk my head into a strange pond filled with who-knows-what.

I heard some soft rustling from nearby. I turned around to see that the stupid girl was finally waking up.

"Sh…Shinji?" she mumbled as she sat up.

"What?"

"Oh, there you are." She rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Nice hair."

"WHAT?!" Her hands were immediately running through her hair, feeling the bizarre pattern it had created upon itself in her sleep. I honestly had no idea that anyone could ever defy the laws of physics like that.

Still shrieking, she released her Empoleon and commanded it to use Bubblebeam on her head. Reflecting upon my earlier mishap with the pond, I probably could have gotten one of my pokemon to use Water Gun on my face. At least then I wouldn't have who-knows-what in my hair.

Somehow that rat's nest went back to its normal, flat state. She returned her pokemon, sighing with relief.

"So, are we going to get moving or what?" She looked over at me, seeming to finally notice that I was still there. Her eyes widened and she whipped her head back around, playing with the zipper on her sleeping bag.

"S-sure, but can you please put your shirt back on first?" It occurred to me that I was still shirtless, so I quickly slipped on my shirt and jacket. We rolled up our sleeping bags and set off once again.

She didn't say much this time around. This was for the best as I had too much swimming around in my head to pay any mind to whatever complaints she had ready to spill out of her mouth and I really just didn't want to deal with her whining. Although my pulse had quieted, I couldn't help noticing that my heart would jump every time I thought of what had happened earlier. I kept trying to assume that it was merely fear of her exploding again, but every time I told myself that I only felt unsettled. Uncomfortable. Like there was something I was missing. Nevertheless, I couldn't think of any other logical conclusion other than that.

Suddenly, I came to a dead halt. Was I…in _love_ with her? I almost gagged at the thought. I'd believe that aliens abducted my brain and replaced it with pudding before I'd believe _that_.

"Shinji…is there something wrong?" I turned around. Hikari…I mean, that stupid girl (I ONLY remember her name because I happen to have a fantastic memory) was looking up at me as if my brain _had_ been abducted by aliens. I suppose it was a little shocking; I was usually more collected than to just stop in the middle of going somewhere.

"No. I was just trying to think of when we would reach the next town and I was stopping to do some quick calculations." I began walking again.

"Oh. So…how much longer until we get there?"

"It's not too far." I already knew how long it would take before she ever even came with me into the forest. I sure as heck wasn't going to tell her what actually caused me to stop.

I mean me, in _love_ with her? The very idea of that was so repulsive I could hardly stand it.

She remained completely silent until we reached the town a few hours later. Once we set foot on the old cobblestone, she began to jump up and down like she had never seen civilization before.

"Finally! I can sleep in a nice, warm bed with a decent meal!" She sprinted off to find a restaurant or something and I decided to go heal my pokemon at the Pokemon Center.

I walked through the double doors only to see one of the last people I wanted to see in the entire world:

My brother.

He was standing around, chatting with some guy. Hoping he wouldn't see me, I snuck past him to the counter to drop off my pokemon. Nurse Joi took them cheerfully and went off to heal them. I turned around and tried to act casual and stroll out of the healing facility.

"Hey, Shinji! Fancy seeing you here!"

Oh, Arceus.

They walked over to me. Upon further inspection, I realized that the man Aniki was talking to was the breeder. To be perfectly honest, I didn't hate either one of them. The only reason I'd rather not talk to Aniki would be because he tends to get…overexcited.

"What are you doing here? I've missed you so much!" I was immediately bombarded with a suffocating hug.

"Hey, there. Haven't seen you in a while," the breeder said kindly. I was quite indifferent to him. He had never done anything to set me off and he wasn't annoying, so I had no reason to hate him.

"Yeah. Aniki, would you _get off me?_" Aniki quickly let go.

"Oh! Sorry, Shinji! I just haven't seen you in a few months. How's your training going?"

"Fine."

"Haha, I see that you're not any more talkative than you were when you left!" Aniki laughed. Nurse Joi returned.

"I'd like to reserve a room," I shouted over.

"Of course, sir!" She typed something into her computer. "Your room number is 13, okay?" She reached out to hand me a room key. I walked over and grabbed it.

"Wow, Shinji, that's not like you. Normally, you would rather sleep in the forest by yourself. Have you gone and gotten more social without me?" Aniki attempted to hug me again, but failed miserably as I was quicker this time around.

"No. I just happen to be stuck with some extra baggage this time around."

"Like what?"

"None of your business."

"Hey, Shinji! Did you get us a room?" H-that stupid girl walked in, calling over to me. Perfect.

"Yeah." I threw the key over to her and she (of course) dropped it. After scrambling to pick it up off of the floor, she offered to drop my bag off in the room along with her stuff.

"Are you sure you want to keep carrying it around all day?"

"It doesn't matter to me. Just go away, already." After huffing at me quickly, she strolled back to our room.

I turned back to Aniki and the breeder. They had the strangest expressions on their faces. They seemed almost…suspicious about something.

"…What?"

"Spill it," Aniki said in his gossiping voice. "What are you doing here with Hikari-kun?"

"We have a stupid egg to take care of. The daycare idiots couldn't figure out who it belonged to, so we both have to take care of it until it hatches. If it's worth anything, I'm going to be keeping it."

"But…but Shinji…" Aniki whined, "You're staying in a room with her! All alone!"

"I have to admit, Shinji, that sounds kind of suspicious," the breeder laughed.

"It doesn't make any difference to me. To be perfectly honest, it's really annoying when you're woken up at night by such loud snoring."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Aniki waved his finger in front of my face. "You shouldn't be shacking up with young girls like this. Haven't I taught you anything?" I think I could feel my eye beginning to twitch. "Haha, you don't have to look at me like that!" he laughed. "I was just kidding. But there _is_ one thing I'd like to know…"

I sighed. "What's that?"

"Do you like her?"

If I had been drinking anything, I would have spit it into my older brother's face. Kind of makes me wish I'd been drinking something.

"What?!"

"I've actually wondered that myself," the breeder said thoughtfully. "_Do_ you like her, Shinji?"

Has the entire world gone insane?

"No. End of discussion."

Aniki merely laughed his "I really don't believe you and I think it's funny" laugh. "Shinji, you do realize that it's possible that you like her and still don't realize it, right?"

"I think I'm going to have to side with Reiji on this one," the breeder added.

"Aniki, I've never liked anyone. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not too fond of people. Especially you, right now."

"This would be a fresh start then! Ah, young, blossoming first loves! Wouldn't you agree, Takeshi?" The breeder chuckled.

"Out of my way."

I shoved my way past Aniki and the breeder. I blasted through the doors of the Pokemon Center angrily, trying desperately not to rip my brother's arm off. There was absolutely _no way_ I would _ever_ like her.

…Right?


	4. Chapter 4

I stormed through the cobblestone streets of the tiny town, trying not to punch anyone. I had no idea why, but I was completely infuriated by what my brother had suggested. How could I ever fall in love with that _stupid_ girl? She's clumsy, loud, annoying, and cute.

NO. I didn't say cute. Or, what I meant to say was newt. Yes. She looks like a newt.

Don't look at me like that.

"Shinji…what are you so angry about?" I turned around and saw Hikari—I mean, the stupid girl—standing around looking pitifully at me. What reason did she have to pity me? There wasn't anything wrong except for the fact that my brother was an idiot (and still is). And _why_ did she have to show up now, of all times?

"N-no. Leave me alone." She stepped closer to me.

"Shinji, you were storming through the streets acting like you wanted to smash every single stone in the ground."

"Aren't you the one who's always complaining that I look like that all the time?"

"True, but not to this extent." Drat. She's more perceptive than I give her credit for.

"It's none of your business." It seems that I've acquired my own catchphrase.

"What are you hiding?"

"Nothing. Besides, I thought you went to lounge around like a bum at the Pokemon Center."

"I did, but then I realized that I had seen Takeshi out there and I had to go talk to him. When I came back out front, you were gone and he and Reiji were laughing. I asked them what was going on and all they told me was 'Shinji's very confused right now.' Then I came out here and saw you stomping all over the place like a rampant Tauros. What the heck is going on?" I was going to kill my brother the next time I saw him.

"I already told you. Aniki tends to laugh and poke fun at everything. There's nothing to tell you." I tried my best to lie smoothly, but it seemed as if she wasn't buying it. Luckily, she at least decided to give up for a short amount of time.

"Well…okay. But if I see you acting funny again, you better tell me what's going on!" She turned away in a huff and strolled off to do something not pertaining to me. The people around me were whispering as if I wasn't there.

"Was that a lover's quarrel?"

"I bet he's cheating on her."

"Naw, he's probably an okay guy. The reason he was mad was because he didn't do anything and she thought he was fooling around." Knowing it would make no difference whether I ripped them to shreds or not, I chose to ignore them and wander around town a bit to burn off some anger.

I walked around the town at least three times before someone called out to me.

"Shinji! Come over here! I want to talk to you!" Please, _please_ don't let it be him again.

"Hello, Aniki." He ran up to me and ruffled my hair. I shook my head until it fell back into place again.

"Come with me. I know how sensitive about these things you can get, so I decided we could talk about this somewhere more private." He put his hand on my shoulder in a protective big brother way.

I shook it off. "There's nothing to talk about."

"You seemed upset when you snarled at me and flew out of the Pokemon Center."

"I never snarled at you."

"Would you just humor me, please?" He gave me a pleading look and I reluctantly nodded.

He grabbed my wrist and led me into a flower shop. He gave a quick wave to the girl at the counter and proceeded to lead me through a door behind her. We were in what looked like a garden where they stored and grew flowers for their business. He sat down on a stone bench and beckoned me to sit next to him. I flopped down on the bench across from him. He sighed.

"Shinji, why don't you treat me as a normal little brother would? You never open up to me at all," he said, pretending to pout.

"There's nothing to open up about."

"Don't get all defensive on me, now."

"I already know what you want to talk to me about and there's nothing to say." He sighed again.

"Please don't do this to me. I can't stand to see my little brother in such pain!" What a drama queen.

"I'm not in pain. I'm perfectly _fine_." I spat the last word as if it would poison me to say it.

"You don't sound fine."

"But I am."

"What are you going to do when she leaves?"

"…What?"

"After you take care of this silly egg. What are you going to do when it hatches, one of you takes it, and she leaves?"

"It doesn't matter to me. It'll be nice to have some peace and quiet again." My ever perceptive brother happened to notice me hesitate slightly before answering.

"You're not telling me everything."

"As I keep telling you, Aniki, there's nothing to tell."

"I've known you for most of my life, Shinji. I think I can tell by now when you're hiding something. Either that," he said, smirking, "or you don't even realize you're hiding anything."

"Oh, pray tell?" I said sarcastically.

"I think you've fallen for Hikari-kun. I think you've fallen head over heels for her but you don't even realize it yet. You always were overwhelmingly stubborn…" Aniki gained a faraway look to his eyes as he sailed off to some far away place in his memories.

"I don't think you've ever talked this seriously to me before."

"Don't change the subject, Shinji."

"I wasn't. I found what you were suggesting to be completely inaccurate and so I didn't see it as important enough to dwell on. I don't love anyone and I never have, so stop trying to live your crazy fantasies through me."

Aniki sighed again. It was a deep, longing sigh that he only used when he was really frustrated with something.

"Shinji, it's okay if you're in love with someone. It's not a weakness." I said nothing. "It takes more strength to admit you're afraid of something or, in this case, admit something you're afraid of, than it does to ignore it." I had always tried as hard as I could to be stronger than anyone else. I had refused to let myself gain an attachment to anything. I still didn't understand how someone so simple minded could force me to go against this.

"I don't love her," I insisted.

"What would you feel like if she kissed you?" Memories came flashing back of that morning in the woods. It felt so far away, but it came to me as vividly as if it had happened two minutes ago. I tried to push through these disturbing memories and keep a straight face. However, a high pulse doesn't normally allow your skin to stay the same shade as it was meant to be.

"Shinji, I don't think I've ever seen you blush before!" All was now hopeless.

"Shut up, Aniki."

"So, you're still in denial? …Or maybe you're just not sure?" I made no reply. His face suddenly looked sinister. "_Or_ you already kissed her?"

"I didn't kiss her."

"Did she kiss you?"

"I didn't say anything like that."

"That doesn't mean it's not true!" I could tell he was enjoying himself. "Just remember it…the feeling of her soft, delicate lips touching yours…the smell of her hair…" Before I realized what was happening, I felt something warm trickling down my face and I was instinctively hunched over, plugging my nose.

"Shinji! Are you okay?" I moved my hand to say something. What a stupid move. As soon as I took my hand away, blood began spurting out of my nose. I grabbed a tissue and stuffed it in my nose to try and stop the nosebleed.

"Haha, I see…so it was steamier than I thought!"

"ANIKI!"

"Okay, okay, all joking aside, I really think that _you_ should think about this. If just thinking about kissing her makes you get a nosebleed, then there's more to this than you think. Knowing you, it's not just a physical attraction." As I kept trying to stifle the blood still trickling out of my nose, I decided to stop being a stupid coward and face up to this, like Aniki said. I'd never gotten a nosebleed in my life, and then suddenly just thinking about the details of kissing this stupid girl gets my blood pumping. My head was pounding like nothing I'd ever felt before, and forcing myself to think about that kiss was making it worse. When I tried to calm down and assess how I felt about it, I realized that that was excitement coursing through my veins. I went an inch further and tried to think of how I would feel if I was to kiss her again. An image of me mashing my coarse lips against her soft ones quickly appeared in my mind, making my pulse skyrocket.

"So if I _do_ love her," I somehow managed to choke out through the blood that was beginning to back up through my nose, "why am I reacting this way? 'Normal' people don't react this way to _love_." I said the last word with spite evident in my voice.

"You've probably been suppressing it for so long that your body couldn't handle the pressure any more. When you finally began to embrace it, everything came exploding out at the same time. This is going to take some getting used to."

"How long…never mind." I started a thought, but it was far too…embarrassing, to say the least, to share with my brother.

"How long what?"

"I said never mind."

"Do you want me to start trying to describe a kiss with Hikari-kun again?"

"_Fine_. How long will it take until…well…"

"Go on…"

"How long will it take until I can…kiss her…without this happening…" I was mumbling so softly by this point that I hoped he couldn't hear me. Sadly, he did.

Aniki chuckled. "Not long. You'd be surprised. Just try to be more open with yourself about this. I'm not saying you have to announce it or anything, I'm just saying you should be more open within your own mind. Think about her a little more. Think about her a little _differently_," he added.

"Hn."

"Is that a 'Thank you so much, Nii-chan, I promise to be nice to you forever and ever' grunt?" I glared at him. He merely laughed. "I guess I'll take that as something of a yes." He stood up to leave.

"Thanks, I guess," I said in practically a whisper as he was leaving.

"Anytime, Shinji." I swear that man must have supersonic hearing or something. "I'm just glad that you've finally opened up to me about something for once in your life. I feel like we're finally brothers!" He threw his arms around me as I was standing up.

"A-Aniki, there are other people around!" I snapped. He finally released me and, with a final smile, he left. I stood by myself in the small garden, staring off into space. I took the blood-splattered tissue away from my face, realizing that my nosebleed had receded.

This was by far the most embarrassing day of my entire life.

* * *

"Could you come just a little bit closer, please?" I took a hesitant half-step forward. She looked up at me, studying my eyes. "You look okay to me…"

Hikari had insisted that there was something wrong with me. She was giving me a quick inspection to make sure I didn't have some kind of disease.

"I told you. Now would you leave me alone?" For some reason, she just stared into my eyes, smiling. "…What?"

"Shinji…" She laced her arms around my neck. She was standing so close to me that our noses were touching. I was entranced. The previously revolting smell of her hair was practically hypnotizing me at this point. I lightly placed my hands on her hips. She brushed her mouth against mine. I think she was trying to give me a heart attack. It took everything I had to keep my hands on her hips and nowhere else. I softly moved my lips against hers, and she shifted her hands into my hair. Suddenly, she broke away from me and moved her head beside mine. I moved my hands to her waist and hugged her as close to me as humanly possible without crushing her. With her lips at my ear, she whispered my name again.

"Shinji…"

And then I woke up.

* * *

**A/N:** Wow, this was a long one o_o" LOLOL CLIFFHANGER ENDING, I'M SO TERRIBLE


	5. Chapter 5

My eyes snapped open and I saw nothing but white. I could remember now. After Aniki had talked to me, I had gone back to the Pokemon Center to think some more. I decided that admitting something that…probably wasn't true about myself was better than insanity. I had collapsed on the bed and tried to imagine myself…_with_ her. With some kind of relationship. This was a hard concept to grasp. To be perfectly honest, that morning in the woods was my first kiss, albeit most probably wouldn't count it.

The very last thing I could remember before falling asleep was thinking of that annoying girl's smile. It was so…annoying. But at the same time…ugh, I don't even want to _begin_ to describe the rush I got from thinking of her lips. I really hate my life.

I continued to stare at the whitewashed Pokemon Center ceiling, tracing the popcorn texture with my eyes. I could feel my face starting to tingle near my ears. I ignored it; even if the stupid girl was there, she'd probably be sleeping.

Curious, I turned my head on its side to see if she was there. The other top bunk was empty.

Of course; she would probably kill herself trying to get up the ladder.

I got down onto the floor. She had settled herself in the bottom bunk of the bed I had fallen asleep on. She was clutching something in her hands. I leaned in, nosily trying to see what it was.

It was a small Pokedoll. I couldn't recall ever having seen one so small before. I leaned a little farther toward her, trying to see what pokemon it was for some bizarre reason. I think, more than anything, I wanted to see why she felt such an attachment to an insignificant object such as that one.

I spied the tiny little coiled tail and realized it was a Glameow. It was probably something her mother had given her as a memento to remember her and her Glameow by. Yes, even I knew of her mother. Ayako was a famous coordinator; how could anyone _not_ know her?

I was about to stand back up when I heard Hikari mumble something. It was incoherent. I strained to listen for anything else, madly curious about what kind of dream she was having.

…Is this really what I've come to?

So softly that I almost wished Aniki was around to repeat it to me, she whispered my name. My face was suddenly on fire. Feeling revolted with myself for eavesdropping on her dream and at my reaction, I quickly tried to stand back up. However, I didn't take the top bunk into account.

My head slammed into the bottom of the higher bed. I heard a crack and honestly wasn't sure whether it was my head or the wood of the bed. I recomposed myself and looked down at her to see if she had awoken, but she was still sleeping like a rock. That girl would sleep through a herd of Mamoswine stampeding into the room.

I silently cursed myself for allowing myself to become so vulnerable. I didn't care what my brother said; falling in love with someone will only cause you to be weak. I couldn't think of anything more humiliating. I felt so degraded.

I checked the time on my Pokedex and saw that it was only 3:00 a.m. I really couldn't sleep much more than seven or eight hours, so it was only natural that I woke up so early from falling asleep so early. I glanced back over at the stupid girl lying underneath the fresh linens on the bed. Her midnight blue hair was settled lightly on her broad forehead; I could see why she always wore a stupid hat.

It was as if I blinked and then was suddenly reaching over to brush the hair off of her face. My hand was merely inches from her calm face, shaking slightly from my new fear of myself. What would I do if I was talking to her? If I couldn't keep control of myself for something as simple as this, what would I do if I was facing her while she was awake? While she was looking at me with that stupid smile of hers? While she was yelling at me with her face so close to mine that I could feel her warm breath on my face?

I jerked my hand back and flew out of the room. The only thing that was flashing through my mind was the strange fantasy that Aniki had forced on me the previous day. I tried to force away the images of myself running my dark fingers through her soft blue hair. I knew that if I didn't get away from her, I was going to do something that would earn me more than just a screaming lecture from her.

I jogged through the early morning darkness until I reached the edge of town. I flopped down on a nearby bench. I sat for a few moments trying to catch my breath. What Aniki had said to me the day before buzzed around my head like a swarm of Beedrills.

"_Just try to be more open with yourself about this."_

Okay…fine. Where…exactly should I start?

I'm…a coward and I think I've fallen in love with an idiot.

I still don't feel any better.

Maybe…I should go into more depth or something.

I'm a coward and I think I've fallen in love with a…_cute_ idiot.

I think I'm getting an ulcer. Sadly, I knew that I had to keep going until I had admitted that dark corner I'd rather not think about to myself.

I'm a coward and I've fallen in love with a cute idiot. I detest how I love the way her hair stands on end like she slept on her head rather than a pillow. I detest how I want to run my hands through it and try to fix it for her. I love how I'd want even more to pick on her about it and watch her freak out.

The more I thought about her, the more my stomach fluttered. I hated it more than anything I'd ever felt in my entire life. It made me feel like a homesick fan boy who had nothing better to do than sit around and daydream about cute girls all day.

Maybe I should have just let her have the stupid egg.

My emotional explosion soon subsided. All that remained was that sickening feeling that I wanted to hug her or something. I got up and trudged back to the Pokemon Center, deciding that I was at least sane enough to handle looking at her again. When I arrived back at our room, I came to the horrible realization that I had left the key inside in my haste to get out.

I was locked out of my room.

* * *

**A/N:** Pretty short this time xD; This was more of a reflection chapter for Shinji. He still doesn't want to fully admit that he loves Hikari, but you can tell by now that he knows he does. I'm so terrible with cliffhangers, ohoho~


	6. Chapter 6

"Shinji, wake up!" I heard a soft voice calling me from my sleep. I cracked open one eye and saw the girl kneeling in front of me. She looked worried.

"Why did you wake me up, stupid girl?" That running must have put more out of me than I thought. I slept much longer than I normally would have.

"Did you sleep out here in the hallway all night?" I squinted at her through the bright light of the hallway.

"What difference does it make?"

"Did…did you forget your room key inside?" She giggled. I wished I had a knife to end my misery. She was so sickeningly cute I thought I was going to throw up.

"Maybe I decided it was more comfortable out here."

"And maybe you're denying it so you don't look so stupid. I'm going to tell you right now that it's not working." D*** she's gotten perceptive.

I stood up and stretched. My joints popped from sleeping up against the wall. How long had I been sleeping for?

Hikari sighed. "Why do you always have to be so stubborn? You could have just asked Nurse Joi for a spare." She stopped for a moment. That was probably a first. "And…there was something I wanted to…ask you." She looked at me shyly.

Much to my disgust, the first thing that flew into my mind was a confession. Even though I knew it was outrageous and NOT what she wanted to talk about, I still couldn't help but notice my pulse slowly rising.

"Get on with it."

"Sorry…I'm just not quite sure how to ask this." Her brow furrowed. "What's up with the huge crack in the bottom of the top bunk of the bed I was sleeping in?"

Crap.

"It was nothing. A…really stupid Pidgey flew in and slammed into it. You were sleeping."

"Oh, okay!"

Perceptive, and yet so dense.

We walked out into town after deciding to get something to eat. Finally starting to wake up, I happened to notice what she looked like. She was dressed in a light sweater and long skirt (quite a change from normal) and she wasn't wearing that stupid hat. Her hair hung neatly down, bangs covering her abnormally sized forehead. She almost looked normal.

We found a cheap place to eat. Cheap is always good as you don't make much as a pokemon trainer. We made quick orders and waited. I couldn't help but notice that people were staring at us.

"What a cute couple! They must have made up," one man whispered. I swear, do people think I'm stupid?

"Don't they just look so sweet together?"

"Hey, Shinji…" the annoying girl started. I mentally braced myself for the stupid question she was about to ask me. "…Who do you think those people are talking about?"

Even I wasn't prepared for that one.

"I..I don't know." She shrugged and went back to playing with the gadgets on her Poketch. I had to agree with those idiots around us on at least one thing; it certainly did seem as if we were on a date, but even more so to me than to anyone else. Her clothes were nicer than usual. She was acting more cheerful than usual (and that's saying something). She seemed more oblivious to the outside world than usual (and that's saying something even more). It was as if she was somewhere else entirely at some points, like she was lost in some fantasy world.

The extremely horrific part of all this was that I was enjoying myself. I was actually _happy_ to sit there with her. I really didn't care that people were gossiping about us. I began to wonder what I should do about this. What would Aniki say?

"_Shinji, don't think about perverted things!"_

I meant something actually pertaining to the situation.

"_Say something nice to her."_

"So…I noticed you don't look as ugly as you usually do." S***.

"Yeah…I just decided to try something a little different today." My eyes widened. She wasn't going to threaten my head on a silver platter? In any case, I had to try and get this right.

"You've got a clump of hair in your face." S***.

"Huh?" I absentmindedly reached over the small table and brushed the lock of blue hair out of its resting place over her nose. She stared at me as if I was an alien. Her cheeks began to tint a slightly darker shade.

What the heck did I just do?!

"S-sorry. It was bugging me," I snapped a little too suspiciously. She grinned hugely at me and went back to her Poketch. What was that smile? Did she suspect anything?

I said nothing again until our food finally arrived. Hikari was eating very slowly. I wondered why she didn't just scarf it down like she did at any other meal I ate with her.

"Aren't you hungry?" I said gruffly.

"Eh? Yes, I am, but…" She looked down nervously at the table. I stared expectantly at her. "Well…what you said about getting fat was bothering me…" Don't freak out…don't freak out…

"Can't you take anything? I was picking on you, you idiot." S***.

Her cheeks flushed brightly this time. "Fine, then! I just won't listen to you anymore." She began eating at a normal pace again, face redder than a Tamato Berry. I couldn't imagine what she was so embarrassed about. I mean, all I did was act like an idiot and insult her directly.

We finished our meal and walked silently out of the building. She had wanted to stay another night, so we had some time to burn. I really didn't care at this point; I just wanted to let the egg hatch and get on with my life. Once the egg hatched, we could go our separate ways and I wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. I could put all this nonsense behind me.

"Psssst! Shinjiiii!" My "inconspicuous" older brother was whispering to me from within a tiny alley.

"Hey, Hi-stupid girl, I'll be right back. Don't get lost." She nodded quickly. I casually walked over to where Aniki was standing.

"What do you want now, Aniki?"

"I just wanted to give you advice for your date with Hikari-kun!"

"We're not on a date."

"Oh, really? That's disappointing. Are you going to confess anyway?"

"No."

"When are you going to?"

"Who ever said I was going to?"

"Shinji, you HAVE to confess!"

"Give me one good reason to."

"Well…" Aniki thought for a moment. "You'll finally be able to be open with Hikari-kun."

"I said a _good_ reason."

"If you're going to be _that_ way about it…" He thought for a little longer. "You'll know how she feels about you."

"So you want me to confess to her so that I can find out that she doesn't like me. What a kind and loving brother you are."

"Have you even stopped to think about how she acts around you? Have you seen any signs? Any random blushing? Any stuttering? Acting nicer than she normally would?" Horrifyingly enough, I had seen all of this.

"Those are signs? I thought that was just her brain malfunctioning."

"Argh! You're so hopeless!" Aniki rubbed his forehead. He sighed heavily. "Shinji, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life. I'm just going to warn you that not confessing about something like this only brings regret. You'll understand sometime later." His face suddenly brightened again. "So, did you say anything kind to Hikari-kun today?"

I thought back to the fiasco during breakfast. "…Sure."

"Good! I hope everything works out nicely for you. Now, run along and spend time with the one you love!" He nudged me out of the alley. I walked back over to where Troublesome was still standing.

"Did you do whatever you needed to do?"

"Yeah."

"What do you want to do now?"

"Actually, I'd rather go do some training."

"Oh…" Her face fell slightly. For some reason, she forced a smile on her face. "I guess I'll just go take care of the egg, then." She practically jogged in the direction of the Pokemon Center.

I had no idea what Aniki was talking about. She practically ran to get away from me just now. What would be the point of confessing to her? I slowly walked back in the direction of the forest.

One thing was certain. I was never going to confess anything.


	7. Chapter 7

"Torterra, use Earthquake!" The ground rumbled once again, this time creating large cracks between the boulders lodged in the dirt. Weavile easily dodged with its small, speedy body.

"Weavile, use Ice Beam!" Weavile shot the beam at Torterra. I have no idea if it hit, however, as I had other things on my mind.

Stupid Aniki. He's _always_ tried to convince me of what was wrong or right when he had no idea what he was talking about. Confessing something stupid wouldn't accomplish anything except humiliate me.

"_Hey, stupid girl! Turns out I love you!"_

_*insert her hysterical laughter here*_

Although the idea is tempting, I'll have to pass.

"Weavile?" I looked up to find my pokemon staring at me.

"What are you two staring at?!" I shouted. "Just get back in your Pokeballs!"

"Wea…Weavile…" They both disappeared into the small spaces.

I leaned my back against a nearby tree and slid to the ground. I rubbed my temples.

Why did Aniki have to go and put ideas in my head? I never wanted this. I never asked to fall in love with that stupid girl. And then, when I was merely trying my best to ignore everything, he had to ruin it. I could survive another few days or so. No one ever said you were required to confess your love for someone. I've read many a book containing unrequited or unannounced love and everything worked out just fine. There was no rule saying this had to work out.

And then there was _her_. That stupid, troublesome, annoying girl. If it wasn't for her Ambipom, we wouldn't be in this mess. I might have been able to just leave her in my past and never have to see her again.

But…now it was too late.

I had to face the fact that she'd changed my entire emotional system. I'd never overreacted over anything before all this. I'd never…wanted anything this badly.

While I've come to accept all this, I'm still not going to confess. And yes, I will, in fact, admit that this is because I am a coward.

I reluctantly stood up. I figured that I might as well go and see what Troublesome was doing.

"Oi, has the egg hatched yet?" Hikari looked up at me from her spot on the bed with astonishment.

"Shinji? I thought…"

"I finished my training."

"O-oh." She looked at the floor. "No, it hasn't." She picked the large white object up. I took a deep breath before daring to sit next to her on the bed.

Close to her.

I figured I might as well…enjoy her company, I suppose. With the time I had or something like that.

I crossed my arms and legs, trying to look like I wasn't comfortable sitting there.

"Sh…Shinji?" She looked horribly shocked. I wasn't surprised.

I took off my jacket and wrapped it around the egg. "You're supposed to keep it warm, stupid."

"R-right…" Once again, she makes almost no reaction to what I say.

"_Any stuttering? Acting nicer than she normally would?"_

I brushed away my brother's words.

"Wait a minute, Shinji…"

"Hm?"

"If you really don't like that Magmar so much, then wouldn't it make sense that you of all people wouldn't want its child?" I froze. Once again, it was as if she had seen right through me.

"I-it could be from your Ambipom."

"Haven't you told me on numerous occasions that my pokemon are weak and only fit for 'frilly contests'?"

"…Well…the pokemon's offspring…could be different. Just because they're related doesn't mean that they're clones." Crap…she'd never buy it.

But…wait, wasn't this what I wanted? To get away from her and forget about all this?

I could have backtracked, but for some reason my voice caught in my throat.

"So…we'll be spending more time together, I guess." She fought back an obvious smile as her face tinted pink.

"_Any random blushing?"_

No way.

There was no way.

There was absolutely no way that she was in love with me. There's got to be some explanation for that.

"Why are you blushing?"

"…Blushing?" Her face grew redder.

"Did I stutter?"

"N-no, just…well…" She nervously twiddled her fingers. "What business is it of yours, anyway?" she said, suddenly angry.

"It's not, I guess," I snapped back. It was quiet for a moment.

"Sorry I yelled at you, Shinji…" she said quietly. Now she was _apologizing?_ I really had no idea what to make of any of this.

If I was to be sure that she…liked me, I was going to have to test her a bit more.

* * *

**A/N:** Ah, a lot of the buildup is gone, I think. The writing should get a little easier from here.

So shoooort D: It's less than 1,000 words!


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, we left the town. It was quite a relief to be back out in the quiet wilderness. I'd tried to think of some "signs," as Aniki would call them, but I knew nothing about crap like this. I figured that I'd just test each of the things Aniki had told me about in the past.

Whenever a girl had liked me, Aniki would announce it to me and tell me exactly why. I found it perfectly reasonable to use these things to my advantage now. It seems that something Aniki said is finally coming in handy.

**REIJI'S TOP 10 TIPS FOR DATING**

_**Tip #1: **__If a girl likes you, she'll laugh at all of your jokes (even the really bad ones)._

I wasn't quite sure how to pull this one off. I was never a very humorous person. I myself prefer not to laugh; why should I make others?

I happened to see a couple of travelers wandering through the forest in the opposite direction. One was screaming at the other for getting lost.

"Reminds me of Satoshi," I mumbled. Hikari giggled.

Was that counted as a laugh?

…I'll give it a half.

_**Tip #2:**__ She might act shyly around you and do things like play with her hair, look at the ground, blush, etc., ESPECIALLY when you talk to her or make even brief physical contact with her._

I casually brushed my hand against hers and pretended it meant nothing. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye and saw her cheeks slightly darker than usual. She brought her hand up and absentmindedly pushed her hair behind her ears.

Definitely one.

_**Tip #3:**__ A shy girl will quickly look away when you make eye contact, but a strong-willed girl will more often hold eye contact for a long time. Try to notice the way she looks at you._

We stopped to rest about midday. I started a small fire and set up some water to boil for instant Ramen. I curiously looked over at her. She was messing with that stupid Poketch of hers. She had gotten some new applications for it at the town and she was figuring out how to use them.

"The water's boiling." She looked up at me when I spoke but made no particular reaction to my eye contact.

Nothing there.

_**Tip #4: **__Don't have weird fantasies; ecchi is bad!_

_**Tip #5:**__ Watch for flirting. Sudden flirting is a very obvious sign._

I don't think that girl knows the meaning of "flirting."

_**Tip #6: **__A girl will often face her shoulders or lean toward you while you are talking to her._

I handed her foam cup brimming with hot noodles to her. She set it down beside her to absorb the water as did I with my own. I had to strike up some kind of conversation.

"So…have you actually caught anything decent in the recent past?" She looked over at me once again. She was facing me dead-on, leaning slightly toward me.

Another one for the list.

_**Tip #7: **__A girl will expose her wrists and palms to you if she is interested._

"Probably not anything you'd find 'acceptable'," she laughed. She curled her hands in her lap, exposing the opposite side only to me.

…That laugh counts for another half on the first one.

_**Tip # 8:**__ Just watch and see if she looks at you frequently._

I've caught her staring at me plenty of times. Next.

_**Tip #9: **__Shy girls will sometimes mess with their hands or clothing after you make eye contact with them._

I stared over at her, waiting for the moment when she would look up again. She glanced up but immediately looked back down and started fiddling with her skirt.

Another.

_**Tip #10: **__A girl will point her feet toward you if she likes you._

I looked across the fire again and saw one of her feet pointing toward me and the other pointing to the first foot.

…Half?

After adding up my score, I concluded:

I still have absolutely no idea. 4.5 to 4.5 doesn't exactly tell me anything.

Once again, think you, Aniki, for your infinite wisdom.

So here I am. Back at square one. Now what?

* * *

We were packing up our things to set off again. I couldn't help but notice how unbearably quiet the stupid girl had been. Much to my distaste, I was worried about her. I wondered if she was worried about that stupid egg or Magmar, even.

"Is something bothering you, stupid girl?" I said bluntly. "You've been acting funny all day."

"No. I'm fine. Daijoubu." She sure as heck didn't sound very fine.

Unconsciously, I grabbed her wrist and forced her to face me. She stared up at me with wide eyes. I looked right into them, trying to see something I hadn't seen before. I didn't know what I was expecting from this, to be perfectly honest. I'm really beginning to hate my impulses.

Her face flushed. "Don't go and act like this now. We've still got a few days that we're stuck together left. Try to survive for at least that long." I released her arm and it flopped down at her side.

Only a few more days…

* * *

**A/N:** O: O golly…  
Notice that Shinji skipped right past Tip #4, lol. Sadly, it's just not the same without strikethrough...


	9. Chapter 9

"It's…I think it's hatching!"

The large, round object rocked slightly and a tiny cracking sound could be faintly heard. It was the moment of truth.

It had only taken two more days of awkwardly walking through the forest for the egg to hatch. It seemed as though time had flown by and it was already time to split up. I still had no idea how the stupid girl felt about me, and nor did I care at this point. All I wanted was to get away from her and forget about this whole stupid ordeal, egg or not.

Hikari had felt a small movement in her pack. Fearing that she harmed the egg she cared so much about, we had to stop and take a look.

The egg shook more violently and a large crack appeared in its side. Small bits of shell started to fall to the ground around it.

"Shinji, what do you think it's going to be?" she asked softly.

"…I don't know."

A small bit of yellow peeked out of one of the fresh cracks. Almost half of the shell fell to the ground…

"It's a Magby!" The tiny red pokemon climbed out of its shell into the girl's waiting arms.

"So then, it's yours. Take it already so I can go." I stood up and turned away.

"What? What the heck are you talking about?" I turned my head and saw her looking at me incredulously.

"I gave the Magmar to you, remember? You can keep the stupid Magby."

"But Magmar was yours to begin with. Magby is rightfully yours. Besides, this is what you wanted from the start, right?" Oh. Right. I had almost forgotten why I was stuck with her all this time.

"I've decided you can keep it. I don't want it." She stood up angrily. I decided to finally cut right down to the base of my problem. "What's your problem, anyway?"

"Problem? What do you mean I have a problem?" She slowly put the Magby on the ground.

"You've been acting funny for days."

"You think _I'm _acting funny? You're the one who's been acting strange!" She stepped closer to me. Her face was so close to mine that I could feel her warm breath on my face. "You've been practically ignoring me for days! You won't even look at me half the time!" Little did she know that there was a very good reason for that.

I never felt more weak in my life than I did at that moment. I melted under her innocent gaze. Remembering that now makes me feel guilty about what happened next.

I have no idea what came over me. I found my hands lacing through her soft, midnight blue hair. Every fiber of my previous being was screaming out for me to stop, but my lips had somehow already found their way to hers. Hikari gasped slightly in surprise; I was just as astonished with myself as she was. I moved my lips lightly over hers, taking in the soft feel of them and floral scent of her hair. Suddenly, I regained control over my body and forced myself away from her. She stared up at me with a dazed look in her eyes. Confusion quickly glossed over that. I was caught between running off and ignoring the whole scenario or kissing her again.

Luckily, I didn't have to decide. Her lips were instantly mashed against mine once again and I could feel her delicate hands shifting through my thick hair. For some reason, I didn't feel like throwing up. Which was probably a good thing, considering the fact that it wouldn't have been very pleasant for either of us at that point.

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally broke apart. Completely. …Because we had broken apart many times before that for a few breaths. A-ahem.

"Shinji…are you…blushing?"

Shoot.

"No. My cheeks are pink from lack of oxygen. And nothing else."

She smiled that…_horrifyingly_ cute smile of hers. "Hehe, whatever you say, Shinji."

"I'm not lying."

"I never said that you were."

"Stop grinning like that. You look like a dork."

"At least I'm not blushing after I kissed someone."

"_Your_ face is going to be red in a moment and it won't be because of the blood on the _inside_." She merely giggled at this. My normally indifferent heart soared at the sound.

But I wasn't going to let her know that.

I immediately let her go and stormed off into the surrounding trees, trying to fake the cold sneer I usually practiced.

"Sh-Shinji?" she yelped, still dazed by my…little episode. It took everything I had not to go back and tackle her. I'm quite sure that wouldn't be appropriate. Hormones are always so disruptive.

"W-what?" I managed to choke out. I halted. I was afraid of where my legs might take me if I kept moving them.

"Why…" she started. Please don't ask me why I did that. I'm still trying to figure that out for myself.

"I don't know," I snapped.

"Shinji, I didn't even ask anything."

"You don't have to." I tried to start walking away again, but it seemed that my feet were frozen to the ground. Now that I had stopped, it seemed as though my body didn't want me to go any further away.

As the war between my instincts and my mind raged, I faintly felt two slim arms wrap around my waist. Her two satin smooth lips at my ear, she whispered, "Please stop trying to run away, Shinji. You don't have to hide anything from me. It's okay, really. Daijoubu." So I was supposed to take the rejection resulting from what was basically a forced confession lightly? My mind grumbled as I tried to force what would be completely rational anger into myself, but…try as I might, I couldn't get my emotions to comply. All I could feel was the warmth of her small body behind me and the skyrocketing of my pulse at her touch and her stupid little catchphrase. I was completely disgusted with myself. Where had my usual calm and collectedness gone to? I'd been reduced to a babbling pervert.

"W-what do you…I don't want…wrong with you…"

"Shinji, you're not making any sense."

"I don't want to deal with this!"

"Deal with what?"

"Why don't you just hurry up and laugh at me?! Get it out of your system so I can leave!"

"Why would I laugh?" Her encircling arms dropped as she dashed around in front of me. I turned my head away to conceal my ever reddening face in the thicket of my purple hair. "I would have no reason to laugh!" I stayed silent. "Shinji, why aren't you listening to me?" I remained motionless. Without warning, she forced my head around and slammed her lips against mine once again. I had never felt so weak in my entire life. As soon as her skin touched mine I melted inside. She quickly broke away from me, much to my displeasure. "There, did that catch your attention?!"

"You had my attention from the start, stupid girl."

"Then why won't you answer me?"

"What's your question?" I sounded like a complete idiot. All I was doing was stalling from my impending demise. What was the point of even trying anymore?

"I asked you why I would laugh!" she shrieked.

"You would laugh because I can't keep my hands off of you!" I yelled. Her eyes widened. "You would laugh because I really meant that kiss! You would laugh because all this time I've been forcing myself to not even look at you for fear of losing complete control, which you can plainly see happened! You would laugh because I'm a weak loser who couldn't stop himself from falling in love with you!" I panted. I had never yelled at anyone like that before in my life. I was sickened with myself for how perfectly honest I was with her.

Hikari said nothing. I closed my eyes and crossed my arms in anger. I decided that it would be best to accept her slap gracefully and let her wander off into her own life again. However, I didn't feel the sharp sting I was waiting for. I felt her soft lips touch mine for the third time, but only for a second. I slowly opened my eyes.

She stood in front of me with perfectly liquid blue eyes. She had a really stupid looking smile spread across her face. "Why do you have to be so paranoid?" she laughed. "If you would have told me that from the start, I could have answered you a long time ago."

I stared down at her. "Answered me?"

"Yes."

"Answered what, exactly?"

"Answered your burning question if I loved you back or not." I silently cursed myself for letting that last explosion slip by.

"You will tell no one of this."

She only giggled. My usual threats didn't make her angry anymore. I felt caught between happiness that she trusted me and frustration that it would be much harder to set her off. I concentrated on the frustration.

She threw her arms around me and nuzzled her face into my chest. Sudden warmth came spreading through my body from where she was touching me. I slowly returned her hug.

"Wait…so who gets the Magby?" We looked at each other.

"Err…"

Neither one of us had an answer.

We decided that we would just stay together until we figured it out.

I'm currently 23 years old. We still don't know.

* * *

**A/N: **And...the end! Sorry if it was dissapointing XD;


	10. Extras

**Story Bonuses!** For those who thought the story just wasn't enough, here's some extra "What if…?" skits!

_The Careless Daycare Lady_

Daycare Lady: Wait! Sir, I forgot to mention. While you were out, an egg was found…  
Shinji: Ah. So then Magmar laid an egg, did it?  
Daycare Lady: Well…that's the problem. We're not quite sure.  
Shinji: How can you not know what pokemon laid the egg?  
Daycare Lady: A girl was here earlier with an Ambipom that seemed fond of the egg, so I just gave it to her. You don't mind, right?  
Shinji: WHAT?!

_The Dreaded Match Up  
_

Hikari: I have an idea. Why don't you and I travel together until the egg hatches?  
Shinji: I have a better idea. Why don't you go get a pair of scissors and cut all my hair off? I'd rather that than be stuck with you for a week or two.

_The Ever Dense Satoshi  
_

Shinji: Go on, get out of here!  
Hikari: Shinji! The egg could be that Magmar's! You can't tear them apart!  
Shinji: Fine, then. I'll just give it to Satoshi. He would take a Torterra with one leg if it gave him puppy dog eyes.

_Modesty? What's Modesty?_

Shinji: There. Camp: set up.  
Hikari: But…where's the tent?  
Shinji: What do you need a tent for?  
Hikari: So I can change and sleep!  
Shinji: I don't have a tent, so you're going to have to deal with it.  
Hikari: Well, okay…*starts to take off vest*  
Shinji: What are you doing?!  
Hikari: What? *leaves white shirt on and crawls into sleeping bag*  
Shinji: *flushed*

_I Don't Eat_

Hikari: ARGH! *flops down onto sleeping bag* Do you at least have some food?  
Shinji: No.  
Hikari: …Don't you eat?  
Shinji: Not really. I prefer to travel at night, too. The sun burns my skin.  
Hikari: *slowly scoots away*

_I Really Should Learn How to Swim  
_

Shinji: *dunks head into pond*  
Hikari: Ugh… *rubs eyes* Shinji? What are you…doing?  
Shinji: *yelps in surprise in water; falls in*

_I Don't Like Orange Juice Anymore_

Shinji: *drinking orange juice*  
Reiji: But there _is_ one thing I'd like to know…  
Shinji: What's that? *takes sip*  
Reiji: Do you like her?  
Shinji: *spits juice all over Reiji*  
Reiji: Augh! Shinji, how could you?  
Shinji: *coughs* Maybe if you wouldn't say such stupid things, I might not spit juice on you!  
Reiji: Shinji, clean up this mess right now! Otherwise the floor will get all sticky!

_Rock Smash!_

Hikari: Shinji…what are you so angry about?  
Shinji: N-no. Leave me alone.  
Hikari: Shinji, you were storming through the streets smashing every single stone in the ground!  
Shinji: *looks at remaining rubble*

_Just Like Karin*  
_

Reiji: Just remember it…the feeling of her soft, delicate lips touching yours…the smell of her hair…  
Shinji: *blood spurts out of nose everywhere*  
Reiji: Augh! Shinji! Now you've gone and made a mess all over Kanami-chan's nice garden! How are you going to explain the blood stains on the white lilies?

_Too Clumsy for Ladders_

Shinji: Erm…why is there blood all over the ladder on this bunk bed?  
Hikari: I…I tried to get on top, but I fell.  
Shinji: You fell?  
Hikari: A lot.

_Stalker_

Shinji: What is that in her hands? *leans forward*  
Hikari: Shinji…what are you doing?  
Shinji: …  
Hikari: EEK! HENTAI**! GET OUT, GET OUT!

_Always Have a Spare_

Shinji: Crap. I left my key inside the room. I suppose I'll have to find some other way in… *remembers open window*  
*goes outside and tries to climb inside; gets stuck*  
…I think this is worse than before.

_The Love Calculator_

Hikari: *messing with new Poketch gadgets*  
Shinji: …  
Hikari: Oh! Look, I didn't even realize I had this! It's a true love prediction!  
Shinji: *orz position*  
Hikari: *laughs* Let's try us, just for fun! *punches in names*  
Shinji: … *suddenly paying more attention*  
Hikari: …It says 5% possibility!  
Shinji: *silently dies*

_The Ultimate Confession_

Shinji + Hikari: *walking through town*  
Reiji: *from behind building* HEY! SHINJI! HAVE YOU CONFESSED YOUR LOVE FOR HIKARI YET?  
Shinji: S***.

_Blunt_

Hikari: So, what do you want to do now?  
Shinji: I'd like to marry you.  
Hikari: *not paying attention* What?  
Shinji: I said I'd like to do some training.

_A Little Warmth_

Shinji: *puts arms around Hikari*  
Hikari: W-what are you doing?  
Shinji: We have to keep the egg warm, stupid.  
Hikari: *blushes deeply*

_A Little Brotherly Love_

Shinji: *looks at poorly written list he came up with*  
Reiji: *randomly appears* Hey, are those tips I've given you in the past?  
Shinji: Go away.  
Reiji: Why did you cross out number four? That's the most important one!

_The Moment of Truth_

Hikari: It's…I think it's hatching! *egg starts to crack*  
Shinji: … *egg hatches and is a Slakoth*  
Hikari: …Um…whose…is it, exactly?

_The Ultimate Confession pt. 2_

Hikari: It's a Magby!  
Reiji: *randomly appears from trees* HEY! SHINJI! HAVE YOU CONFESSED YOUR LOVE FOR HIKARI YET?  
Shinji: S***.

_It's…mine?_

Hikari: Wait…so who gets the Magby?  
Shinji: …  
Hikari: I know! Let's do rock-paper-scissors!  
Shinji: *orz position*

* * *

*This is in reference to the manga _Karin_; a manga about a vampire that gives blood instead of taking it. If she lets her blood build up too long, she will get a MASSIVE nosebleed.

**This uses the Japanese meaning of the word (pervert) rather than the English meaning we know (porn). In Japan, a hentai is a pervert while ecchi refers to anime porn.


End file.
